In the wake of a medical incident that temporarily closed Camp Virginia Jaycee this summer, the organization that runs the Bedford County camp for people with disabilities is struggling financially and may not be able to reopen next year.

The camp closed seven weeks early this year, forcing it to return tens of thousands of dollars in fees to hundreds of campers. The crisis struck as camp leaders were already grappling with the effects of the recession -- a nearly 45 percent drop in donations from the previous year.

Tom King, chairman of Camp Virginia Jaycee Inc., said the 40-year-old camp is financially "on the edge."

The fundraising literature Camp Virginia Jaycee is now sending out puts the situation in even more dire terms: "After 40 years, we find ourselves in the position where our very survival depends on the support of caring friends like you!"

The 90-acre camp, which typically hosts 80 campers a week during the summer, is open to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities from age 7 through adult. It closed in late June, after only its second weeklong camping session, after an undisclosed incident -- described only as a medical situation --prompted camp leaders to fire the camp director and a medical staffer.

Camp officials had hoped to reopen the facility for the final three weeks of the summer season and hired former Director Maile Armstrong as interim director. Armstrong said Monday that the camp was never able to reopen, however, because "there were some management issues."

King said the organization needs to raise between $100,000 and $150,000 to reopen, and has set up a page on its Web site, www.campvajc.org/daretodream, to solicit donations. "We still have a few bills to pay," he said.

According to documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service, Camp Virginia Jaycee had more than $504,000 in expenses in 2007, and most of the money to pay those expenses, $307,000, came from direct public contributions.